Improvement in railway-switches



T. NEWMAN.

Railway-Switches.

Patented Dec- 16,1873.

INVENTEIFL WITNESSES.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS NEYVMAN, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY-SWITCHES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 145,6'78, datedDecember 16, 1873; application filed September 18, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS NEWMAN, of the city of New Orleans, parish ofOrleans and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Apparatus for Switchin g Railroad-Oars from One Track toAnother; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, andaccurate description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing forming part of this specification.

My improvement relates to the operation of street-railway switches, bymeans of a lug or projection, which is cast upon or otherwise secured tothe face of the brake-shoe, commonly employed and applied to the wheelsof streetcars. That the said lug or projection need not necessarily beprolonged to the extent of intercepting obstructions or inequalitiesupon the rail or upon the surface of the road-bed, a raised flange, or,rather, striking-block, is placed on the side of the switch-rail, but ofsufficient distance therefrom to allow the flange of the car-wheel topassbetween it and the said switch-rail. The pointed end of theswitchrail rests upon and is secured to a slide frame, to which is alsosecurely attached, at one end, the striking-block, above mentioned, andat the other end a cord and weight, the said cord running over a sheave,so that the said Weight will at all times keep the switch-rail pressedclosely against the rail to which it (the weight) is'nearest.

I My improvement will be better understood by referring to the drawingannexed, whereon the same is plainly illustrated.

A is the platform, and B the wheels, of an ordinary car, sufiicientlycomplete for the purposes of this specification. O O are the rails of astraight or continuous line of railway. D will represent one rail of aroad branching from the main line, while E will show the switchrailnecessary to turn the cars from the main lineto and upon thebranch-road. F is a baseframe, upon which rests the axle of the sheave,shown at (0, upon which runs the cord 1), one end of which is attachedto the slide frame 0, and to the opposite end thereof is attached theweight (I. To the said slide-frame c is also secured the pointed end ofthe switch-rail E.

It will thus be perceived that the weight cl will operate to keep theswitch-rail E close against the rail of the main line until thebrake-shoe projection, shown at e, engages the curved endof the raisedflange-0r strikingblock. shown at f, and which is securely attached tothe slide-frame 0, when, by such contact, the switch-rail is drawn orforced to one side, and allows the forward wheel to proceed upon thebranch line. The switch-rail must be of sufficient length to allow therear wheel of the car to pass its point before the said switch-rail isrelieved from the outward pressure of the front wheel.

For the cars which are to run upon the main line the said projection 6must be omitted, so as not to operate the switch.

WVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- Theoperation of railway-switches by means of the weight d, to keep themopen or closed, as may be desired, when the same are opened or closed inopposition to the said weight, by means of lugs or projections upon thebrake shoes of railway-cars, as described, and for the purposes setforth.

THOMAS NEWMAN.

